Honestly mate, the sled is nothing to bge worried about. I’m taking it that the version in your gym is a similar plate-laden version to mine, not a free weights style machine like most “incline presses”?
Give it a go mate and remember - just go light to begin with, even a trial with no weight at all just to get the feel of it.
Should’ve known better…I watched the local weather forecast last night and Mr Hudson (BBC Look North) said rain on the way at seven in the morning…
So looking out of the window this morning…No Rain…
So off I goes for my tuesday five mile run in just shorts and a thin fleece top…I hadn’t gone more than a mile when it started spotting, and by four miles it was heaving it down…
I arrived home with mud up to me thighs and my running kit is still on the radiators refusing to dry out…Decent run though…
Not a great workout today. I felt drained of energy because of a set of unavoidable timings out of my control. I’d had a bowl of porridge for breakfast but couldn’t get to the gym until lunch time, so whatever was left of the 228 Calories by then got burnt out quite fast. I used 390 calories in the gym so I was running on fumes and maybe into a deficit. 
I will try to make sure that will never happen again but it was one of those damn days where everything DIDN’T go to plan. 
Arm Extension (tricep): 80 x 30Kg
Stomach Crunch: 90 x 45Kg
Back Extension: 90 x 45Kg
Hip Abduction: 50 X 35Kg
Curl: 35 x 20Kg
Chest Press: 10 x 50Kg, 40 x 40Kg
Pull-down: 20 x 60Kg, 60 x 50Kg
I did some leg work too, but none of the leg machines recorded anything, even though the consoles said they had. The hip machine was working as normal though. I got the weights up for both the leg extension and the leg curl, so I was mildly pleased with that. 
Considering your timings Tachyon, you’ve put in another sterling workout there, honestly 
With the pre-workout food, I’d eat very little mate. Just enough to give you a good energy burst like a crunch bar and a banana with a can of pop maybe. Too much stodgy food like porridge will make you feel bloated 
The porridge is only a small serving, one of the Quaker Oat sachets you do in the microwave. I breakfast at 8am and normally get to the gym at around 10am, and it does me nicely, usually. I didn’t get there until about 12:30pm today and was there for an hour and just had no “oomph” in me by then. I avoid sugary foods because of my diabetes. I think I’ll stash some mixed nuts and raisins in my backpack in case it happens again.
That’s very interesting Tachyon, on an average five mile run I will burn around 550 calories, but my Sunday ten eats up over one thousand calories.
I have found that over the forty years I’ve been running that it’s almost impossible, and uncomfortable at the very least, to try to run ten miles on a Sunday without some sort of loading on a Saturday.
Also, running on empty requires a much longer recovery time.
The results you experienced at the gym are exactly the same as I have experienced many times when neglecting to put fuel in, although I would load the day or evening before rather than on the morning of a run. If I load before a run it would have to be high sugar i.e. Jam, Honey or Coca Cola type drink, this would ensure an almost instant benefit. But I do realise that as a diabetic this method would be ill advised for you.
However, In my opinion porridge is perfect by providing a slow release of complex carbs, and Dave Brailsford (The British Road Cycling Team Coach) recommends that all his riders eat porridge for breakfast before an event and a British rider has won the Tour de France for the last four years…Nuf Said!
Good points there, Bob Bet your missus enjoyed seeing you come home drenched and covered in mud yesterday by the way 
Tachyon - I was thinking you were straight out training after a bowl of porridge but since it was two hours earlier, it’s about the right time. It’s a great ‘slow release’ form of energy. Even a decent big breakfast (grilled, not fried) can work wonders in the gym if there is enough of a gap between the meal and your exercising.
Personally, and on a usual working day when I get up in the afternoon for the gym, I will have a small biscuit bar and a banana as mentioned, plus a pint of squash. If I had more time I’d go to the gym later on and even have an interval for a quick coffee but I don’t so a quick snack has to suffice.
Good points guys. I need to load up a bit more, really. There have been sessions where I have burnt 500 calories but only eaten half that for breakfast and I can see that could be problematic! I shall have something more substantial as well as the porridge, maybe a crumpet with banana mashed on it with no butter and some orange juice. I’ll try it tomorrow.
Good man Some days you may not feel like very much to eat at all but it’s always safe to have some kind of snack (even a few jelly babies in the car on the way to the gym!) before a workout or alternatively a quick bar of chocolate half way through your session, otherwise you could get light-headed if you are hungry whilst training . Pending your diabetes issues though.
Good luck with this mate
Wednesday 3 April 2019: Triceps, Legs. 1 hour.
Another brief but pretty effective workout today.
Noticing my chest has been lacking exercise lately I’m preparing myself for an all-out heavy session on that area and the back muscles too. To get ready for this I’ve done a short session just for the triceps, making them stronger to ease with the exercises next week. Nothing too strenuous but it all hit the spot nicely and it’s good to see that my triceps muscles are still defined into three separated areas.
Because it’s a little impractical to do simply an hour on the triceps, I added an interim blast for the legs as well, which I did first as these are the bigger muscle group of the two.
(All weights in kgs)
Legs
Incline press:
A: Outer, top & inner knee quads.
25x150 fast reps warm-up
17x200, 12x250
B: Hamstrings, glutes.
17x200, 10x250
5x300
Seated ham curl: Hamstrings, glutes, calves.
25x45, 12x60, 10x70
50x30
Sled press:
A: Outer quads, top quads, hamstrings.
20x200, 12x200
B: Glutes, hamstrings.
20x200, 12x200
Leg extensions:
A: Upper knee quads, top quads, outer quads, hip flexors.
12x80, 12x80, 12x80
B: As above but legs outstretched with a ‘bounce’ to tone the upper knee quads to failure point.
12x100kg
Triceps
Incline Smith press, close-grip:
10x30, 10x50, 10x50
E-Z bar triceps pull-over (lying, flat bench):
10x28, 10x28, 10x28
Triceps pulldown (front, against backrest):
12x30, 10x30, 8x30
Tricep extensions:
15x40, 15x50, 15x60
Next session planned for Saturday, unless I can fit something in quickly on Friday as I’ll be out on the night time.
Thanks for reading.
Surfermom - You’re quiet lately. Everything okay? :hug:
Although some of the world just came to a stop, life goes on, and I just came back from a run. It’s a gorgeous bright blue Kansas day with all the daffodils and tulips in bloom. The needs of my mom and all the work to be done prevent me from much elaboration except to say that my dad would be most pleased that I stopped at the river to see what was about, ran through the periodic table of elements in my head that he helped me memorize years ago, and then stayed outside on my return to let the dogs run and play in the front yard.
More than anything, my dad taught me to constantly savor the world around me. Life is too (sometimes painfully) short. Go live it - well - while you can.
You are an amazing lady, Suzie. Going for a run and no doubt thinking of those lovely past memories will be good for you.
As you say, it’s best to enjoy life as much as we can.
Take care now :hug: xx
Lovely to see you back surfermum, you’re a true survivor!
I’m sitting here looking at all the pieces of my exercise bike, I’m hoping my son and son-in-law will construct it over the weekend!
Oh, and I didn’t go on my walk yesterday as it was pissing down!
But I made four beds, so that was good exercise!!
No exercise for me this week, could hardly get my head up off the pillow, so stuffed full of the cold… Just knackered. Hoping to get back in the Grove next week.
Hi gurls
Don’t worry about the lack of exercise, you can soon catch up. A good rest is always a welcome break for those aching muscles!
Wish i could put that bike together for you Ruthio. Bet you can’t wait to get started on it!
Sorry to hear you have the chills, Roxy…Get well soon :hug:
Big session for me later today. two hours planned on a completely new weights routine designed for ultimate toning. I’ll tell you more later in my write-up 
Saturday 6 April 2019: Muscle “hardness” training.
Slow, controlled, flexed 6-set exercises.
Part 1. Upper Body 3 hours.
A bit of a blast from the past for today’s training session, some pure bodybuilding work. Three hours of endurance and stamina training which involved slow, controlled reps keeping the muscles tensed throughout to harden them to maximum as they contract. This will ensure their strength is maintained due to the size being kept at optimum peak.
The set structure on these is similar to the tension training I’ve been doing: six sets though this time of increasing weight with the usual paused reps. The final set is a standard ‘cooldown’ set; 12 reps for each exercise.
(All weights in kgs)
Arm curl, both arms:
10x25, 6x30, 6x35
6x40+3, 4x50+2
12x20
Lat p/d, hammer:
10x35, 6x40, 6x45, 6x50
6x60+2
12x35
Lat p/d, underarm:
10x35, 6x45, 6x50
6x60+2, 6x65+1
12x35
DB press, incline bench:
10x24, 6x28, 6x32, 4x36
12x20
Smith press, flat c/g:
10x30, 6x40, 6x50
4x60+1, 3x70
12x30
Shoulder press:
10x60, 6x70, 4x80, 3x90
12x40
Chest press:
10x60, 6x70, 6x80
4x90+1, 4x100
12x40
Seated row:
10x47, 6x59, 6x65
6x71+2, 4x77+1
12x41
Fly delt dec:
10x80, 6x95, 6x102.5
7x110+3, 6x117.5+2
12x65
E-Z curl, standing:
10x18, 6x28,6x28
4x38+1, 3x38+1
12x18
DB preacher curl, alt.:
10x12, 6x15, 6x15
4x20+2, 3x22+1
12x10
Concentration curl, alt.:
10x12, 6x15, 6x15
4x17.5+2, -3x20+1
12x10
Single DB press, flat bench:
10x50, 6x50, 6x50
12x50+3, 13x50+2
12x40
Hi-pull cable curl:
10x20, 6x25, 6x30
Tricep extensions:
10x40, 6x60, 6x70
6x80+3, 5x90+2
12x30
I didn’t realise how long this would take and three hours in the gym is something I thought was way beyond me these days. It just proves that age is no barrier when it comes to physical exercise, although I anticipate some painful after effects tomorrow in my arms especially.
All being well in the morning I’ll be doing a similar routine for the legs.
Thanks for reading
Floydy, when you are training in the gym do you have your routines written down or do you remember them?
It was hard to get going again today as it’s been a stressful week and that damn dry chesty cough has returned. I thought I was finally rid of that! Ah well, I kept going, burnt 310 calories, did 739 reps on various machines (legs have improved a little) and “trained like a sportsperson”. Not overly impressive but next time I hope I do better.
I was the only person in the gym today, at one point, so I wonder where all the others went!
Hi mate.
You’ve done well going to the gym at all with a nasty cough. I decided long ago that it’s not even worth trying to exercise with a cold or such like, it just gets you nowhere. But all credit to you for making a sound effort 
And an empty gym is the stuff that dreams are made of. Mine was very busy today but being in Hull it all depends on what the football matches are. maybe there was nothing good worth watching on the telly! 
I certainly do write them down, Bob. On a template which I design each week, changing my routines regularly.
I use a MS Word document and print it off so I can annotate my figures. I see most people using apps but I prefer the old pen and paper method. Hope this image of this weekend’s two sessions comes through okay:
https://i.ibb.co/nr63770/20190406-233657-1.jpg
So there we go, a relative success for once! The blank spaces on the second table indicate my training I’ll be doing on the legs on Sunday (which looks like being a killer tbh) :shock:
Hmmmm